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Ramirez Squeezes By Hart In Rematch

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By Marc Livitz: Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez fought through an injured left elbow and managed to defeat Jesse Hart for the second time as well as defend his WBO World Super Middleweight title in a championship rematch on Friday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The close contest ended in a majority decision in his favor. Many had wondered if the two fighters would pick up where they’d left off in September of 2017, when Ramirez was awarded a unanimous decision win, much due to a knockdown of the challenger in the second round. This time, Ramirez may have swayed the contest to his side with a valiant effort in the final three minutes.

 

In the early goings, Hart (25-2, 21 KO’s) found the greater success of the two as he moved around the ring and used his left jab. By the end of the first, Zurdo connected with a few body shots as he tried to move his Philadelphia opponent into a corner. Jesse continued to use his feet, move to his left and fire his jab over Gilberto’s right shoulder. Ramirez (39-0, 25 KO’s) would answer with a close-in uppercut that backed Hart up a bit.

 

The first two rounds appeared to be even, yet in the third, Jesse may have forgotten that he was fighting a southpaw. He began to shift to his right, which was directly into the zone of Zurdo’s left hand. A minute into the fourth, Gilberto was able to punch Hart back into the ropes and land a few hard shots. Jesse appeared to have abandoned his early strategy because he continued to move to his right as well as stand straight up. His squared up position made him an easy target for his Sinaloa opponent.

 

Jesse saw that as long as he maintained his distance, he was able to hit Zurdo in the face and get his attention. Later in the fifth, they exchanged combinations up high and Hart took advantage of Zurdo’s habit of leaning inward. His right uppercut connected a few times. After a brief period of clinches early in round six, Hart used his jab in an effort to keep the champion away, yet it didn’t work. Ramirez landed a fine right hook to the chin, after which Jesse went back to the body.

 

As he smartly moved to his left, he used his jab and hook to break the guard of Gilberto in the following period. He was the one pushing the action in the seventh and eighth by way of his jab making Zurdo move backwards and negate any side stances. This was turning into a true back and forth affair.

 

Hart’s methods changed again, as did Ramirez’s. As Jesse stood straight up as he’d previously done, Gilberto leaned inward. Each was leaving their chin untucked and unguarded in the phone booth exchange that made up the ninth round. Zurdo didn’t throw a meaningful left in the tenth, perhaps due to an injury. Hart looked to be keeping the playing field a bit in his favor as Ramirez had his left elbow on ice before the eleventh began.

 

The next round was much like the few before the previous one. A close in, tightly contested affair as Hart tried to smother his Mexican opponent into the ropes. The crowd clapped with approval as they fired back and forth to close the penultimate stanza.

 

The ceremonial tapping of gloves began the twelfth. As the first minute passed, Ramirez used his right hand to whack Hart across the face, who himself laughed off the challenge. Zurdo continued the barrage, shot after shot and now with both hands. Jesse then scored with a hard right uppercut that staggered the champion to close the fight.

 

Judge Lynne Carter scored the bout a draw at 114-114, while Javier Alvarez and Chris Flores each saw the contest for the champion by one round at 115-113 apiece.

 

“I hurt my elbow in the eighth round, but I still came away with the win,” the victorious Ramirez commented. “I beat him again, no doubts this time. I got the win once again and they can’t say anything about it. I moving up to 175. I don’t see anyone here.”

 

“I pressured him and I boxed him,” the dejected Hart said. “It was no contest. It’s crazy. These scores, c’mon. This wasn’t about the championship. This was about him.”

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